In the chemical and petroleum refining industries, gases are contacted with liquids in a gas and liquid contact apparatus, as in a contact tower for fractionating, absorbing, scrubbing, and the like.
The two different bubble cap assemblies made by the disclosed methods are utilized in a gas and liquid contact apparatus comprising a stack of perforated trays in a tower with downcomers and weirs for flowing liquids from the top of the tower down over a tray deck to a weir, over the weir into a downcomer to the next tray deck below, and thus across and down through all trays consecutively until reaching the bottom where it is discharged, while a gas is introduced in the tower at the bottom and is forced through the holes in each tray deck covered with bubble cap assemblies which insure that all gas in each chamber has bubbled through a tray of liquid in the bottom of that chamber before passing upwardly through the next tray of liquid to exhaust out the top of the tower.
Thus as this counterflow of gas and liquid takes place, any constituents in the gas which are condensed by contact with the liquid exhaust therewith at the bottom of the tower, while any remaining unabsorbed gas and additional vapor is exhausted from the top of the tower with the gases.
Improved methods for making different bubble cap assemblies including means for mounting them on a tray of a gas and liquid contact apparatus is often highly desired. Disclosed herein are two improved methods for forming two different bubble cap assemblies.
Prior bubble cap assemblies and methods for making same are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,480,862; 2,653,018; 2,658,738; 2,797,907; and 2,778,621. None of these patents disclose, teach, or suggest elements like the disclosed elements of a bubble cap assembly as the inner sleeve, the riser, the top spider around the hold-down stud, at least two annular sealing gaskets around the hole on both sides of the tray deck, or the top spider having legs radiating out from a sleeve, the sleeve receiving the hold-down stud and a portion of the spider legs fitting down in the top of the riser.